Ellsberg Initiative for Peace & Democracy

Help Sustain the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

America’s most famous whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg devoted his life to the nonviolent struggle for peace, truth, and democracy. In 1971, he risked his freedom by releasing to the press and public a 7000-page top-secret history of the Vietnam War—the Pentagon Papers—exposing decades of government lies and deceit. Ellsberg’s principled activism shows us how dissent can be the highest form of patriotism and citizenship.

The inspiration to create an Ellsberg Institute was sparked by the university’s acquisition of Ellsberg’s papers in 2019 and the subsequent launch of a series of related projects including a yearlong seminar for students, the creation of the Ellsberg Archive Project, a multi-part podcast, and a two-day international conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers. On January 21, 2023 UMass awarded Ellsberg an honorary doctorate, a long overdue tribute to his lifetime of moral courage and commitment.

Now, in the face of ongoing threats to peace and democracy, we feel a special urgency to move forward with our plan to create a permanent Ellsberg Institute. A fully endowed institute would enable UMass to advance Daniel Ellsberg’s legacy with future generations of students, scholars, and the public. 

Our mission is to promote public awareness, scholarship, and activism on the overlapping causes that define Ellsberg’s life and legacy—peace, government accountability, democratic and human rights, nuclear disarmament, and social and environmental justice. 

Today, we’re asking you to support our mission.

We’re already well into our third year of programs. On December 2, 2024, acclaimed activist and educator Bill McKibben will deliver the Third Annual Ellsberg Lecture: Back to the Wall, Face to the Sun: Where We Stand in the Climate Fight. This spring, the Ellsberg Initiative will welcome Varshini Prakash to campus as our week-long “Activist-in-Residence. Co-founder and former Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement, Prakash will deliver a public lecture, lead a workshop on political activism, visit classes, and meet informally with many students, faculty, and community members. 

Your support helps to make these programs—and more—possible.

Your contribution will help fund the year’s “Existential Threat Project,” focusing on how to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the perils caused by nuclear weapons and climate change and an April 2025 conference exploring the history and legacies of the American War in Vietnam on the occasion of  the 50th Anniversary of the war’s end.  

As Ellsberg himself said before his death in 2023: “With democracy in peril at home and abroad—and civilization itself threatened by the prospects of environmental catastrophe and nuclear war—I welcome the UMass effort to create a permanent Ellsberg Institute for Peace and Democracy.” 

We hope you will support this vitally important initiative.

Thank you!

Chris Appy 

Director, The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy

Professor of History

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Additional Ways to Give

Make checks payable to: UMass Amherst Foundation, Inc. Please note "Ellsberg Initiative for Peace & Democracy" in the memo line and mail to:

    UMass Amherst Foundation
    Records and Gift Processing
    134 Hicks Way
    Amherst, MA 01003-9270